Re: caps lock confusion

[Alan]

On Mar 20, 1:13 pm, "Drew Adams" <drew.ad...@oracle.com> wrote:
> > From: Pascal J. Bourguignon Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 10:34 AM
> > kj <so...@987jk.com.invalid> writes:
>
> > > I have had this problem occur to me about half a dozen times in
> > > the last two weeks (I don't know why, this had never happened
> > > before):  Emacs suddenly starts interpreting my keystrokes as if
> > > the caps lock key had been pressed (all caps, etc.), except it
> > > hasn't been; and if I do press the caps lock key, then Emacs will
> > > interpret my keystrokes in the opposite way, as if the caps lock
> > > were off.
>
> > > My caps lock key appears to be in perfect order.  It has a little
> > > light that indicates when it is on.  And the behaviors of all other
> > > applications are consistent with this indicator.  Emacs is the only
> > > one whose behavior is backwards.
>
> > > In the past, the only way I have found to solve this problem is to
> > > kill and restart Emacs, which I find terribly disruptive.
>
> > > Is there some other way to reset Emacs?
>
> > > Also, any tips that would help me troubleshoot this problem would
> > > be greatly appreciated!
>
> > Perhaps you activated caps-mode?
> > It would be surprizing since AFAIK, it's not a bundled mode,
> > and there's no shortcut binding to activate it.
> > Try:  M-x caps-mode RET  to toggle it.
>
> FWIW - I had a similar problem, with a Dell Latitude laptop (D610, if I 
> remember
> right). But it affected all apps, not only Emacs.
>
> Dell replaced the onboard keyboard (even though I had the same problem with an
> external keyboard) and the motherboard, but that didn't help. Eventually, Dell
> replaced the entire laptop (with a D620), and that took care of it.
>
> Dunno if your problem is related (probably not, if other apps are not 
> affected).
> If it is, contact Dell. (Googling will also show similar problems reported for
> some other laptops, including some IBM models.) Also, try hitting just the 
> Shift
> key several times in succession - sometimes that can unblock the problem. (And
> be sure sticky keys is turned off.)
>
> HTH.

I have a Dell Latitude D531 which occasionally behaves as if Caps is
locked on.  Based on previous experience with this problem I made the
following note to myself:

"To turn off the filter keys hold down shift, press F7, then push the
other shift key three times. The PC will beep like it does when you
turn filter keys on."

I recall finding this advice in one of the Microsoft community
newsgroups.

I originally experienced this problem on a different PC, after holding
the Shift key down too long.  Microsoft's software then decided I was
handicapped.